By MICHAEL SEGUIN

Have a website? Of course you do. Want more visitors? Of course you do.

Leveraging real estate statistics is a great way to drive up the value of your website, increasing both traffic and stickiness. But there are some time-tested tips and tricks to know going in if you are going to get the most out of the practice.

First, have a CMS. A CMS is a content management system. Most of you know them as a blog. I recommend WordPress, but there are lots of good options out there. Having a good CMS will make adding your content much easier to do, and help ensure that you maximize the benefit of that content by baking some SEO (search engine optimization) right in. I will assume that you already have a CMS and get right to the fun parts.

Second, do it yourself, first. There is no substitute to creating some statistics manually. None. There are a number of platforms out there that will try to sell you an embedded widget, and lots of ghost writers out there that will offer to create content in your name leveraging real estate statistics.

Now, there is ultimately nothing wrong with delegating this task in the end. Pay for a widget, or a ghost blogger if you are so inclined. But if you skip the part where you actually do it yourself, you rob yourself in several ways:

Article continues below

Advertise with Inman Next

–>

1. You rob yourself of the chance to really understand your markets movement in a granular fashion… inventory, days-on-market, list-to-sale-ratio. If you take the time to generate a few months worth of reports yourself, you will have a knowledge of and appreciation for these metrics that will last a lifetime.
2. You rob yourself of the ability to understand what metrics really matter, and how much it is worth it to you to pay someone else to create them. It may well be that your time is much better spent meeting with clients, building relationships, submitting listing presentations or offers… but taking the time to do some of this work yourself will help you even in these contexts by arming you with more tools. And you will be well prepared to guide your relationship with a service or ghost writer to get the value you want.
3. Worst of all, you run the risk of being unable to speak to content that you claim is yours. There are few things worse for relationship building than having a consumer ask you about your content, but you have no clue how to answer them.

For all these reasons and more, I highly recommend that you start by doing it yourself. We will come back to that part!

Third, don’t just do charts! This is the single biggest mistake that most agents make. They grab a chart or table of data from somewhere, likely as an image or a pdf, and think that posting that to their website will help them out. You must remember that goal 1 is to get traffic to your content, and goal 2 is to have them enjoy that content long enough to stay. You cannot have the latter without the former.

The primary goal of leveraging statistics on your website is to get the traffic, and you cannot do this simply posting pictures or pdf’s. Without getting into the depths of SEO, suffice it to say that on the web, a thousand words is worth much more than a picture. Google, and the other search engines, index words far better than they do pictures.

A simple rule of thumb is that you need to describe in words both the important data points in, and the meaning (in your mind) of the data that is presented visually in a chart.

Here is an example:

If I simply post this chart, with no descriptive text at all, Google will see that content as an image file name, perhaps a title tag or alt text, and nothing more. Therefore, someone searching Google for exactly this information will never find your content, your website, and of course, you.

However, if I add a descriptive paragraph with a few links to my other content, I am creating rich content for Google to consider. Clearly, in our chart, Days-On-Market is plummeting… but if you don’t explain your opinion of why, all Google will see is an image.

So try something like:

Due in part to pent up demand, days on market over the past 18 months for inventory has plummeted. The time to sell an average non-distressed property is now less than 30 days for condos and townhomes, and less than 40 days for detached homes in the (insert market area name here).

This is good news for sellers as it means that they can expect a rapid transaction for a well priced home (already have an article on the art of pricing? Link “well priced home” to that article). It is also good news for real estate values in general, as it helps to bring home values back from their depressed state.

Looking for real estate in (insert market area here)? Just click here to see homes in this (insert market area here) area.

Link that text to a deep search on your real estate search engine for homes in that region. Adding a link to the words “click here”  does not help you! The link needs to be on the words that matter.

What we end up with is a useful, rich description for Google to kanoodle on. If someone searches for home values in {your market area}, you now have a greatly increased chance to bring that visitor to your website, and keep them there.

Fourth capture leads! This component is optional of course, but if you have done all of this, then why not offer consumers a chance to subscribe to receive a newsletter style update on a monthly basis of the movement of the market?

Finally, use a boilerplate statement at the bottom of each post along the lines of:

The information presented is deemed accurate but not reliable or guaranteed. Reasonable precautions were taking in the preparation of and presentation of this information to ensure accuracy, but the author assumed no liability for any actions taken based on this information. Safe harbor for forward looking statements; some opinions expressed represent forecasts of economic conditions as they impact real estate values. All such information is solely conjecture and should be regarded as opinion only and not serve as the sole basis for any financial decision.

In a followup post on the subject, we will explore the best metrics to track, and how to present eye catching charts and write SEO rich descriptions to help draw traffic to your site and keep them engaged once you get them there.

Michael Seguin is a technology and communications specialist. He is the Senior Technology Manager for the Contra Costa Association of Realtors. He is also the founder of GotWebDev Inc. and owner operator of QRstyler.com, the first free custom QR encoder on the planet.

Facebook is noisy. In between the Farmville games, updates from your friends from high school and photos from people you used to work with – are your clients or potential clients.

So, how can you cut through the noise to connect with those key people? The answer is simple: Facebook lists.

Look at your friend list and pick out the 10-20 people who are potential clients. These are people who you know will be ready to buy or sell in 1-2 years. Remember, Facebook is a way to build relationships and stay in touch. So, the best way to build a relationship and stay top of mind with these key people is to create a list.

Here is how you do it:

Step 1:

• Go to: https://www.facebook.com/bookmarks/lists and click “Create Lists”

 

Article continues below

Advertise with Inman Next

–>

 

Step 2:

• Give your list a name – i.e. “Potential Clients” – this list won’t be made public, but name it something easy to remember. Add your top 10-20 people to your list. Click “create”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3: 

• Go back to this link, and click “Add to Favorites.” Now, when you go to your ‘Home’ screen, you can easily see the list under your Favorites.

 

 

 

 

Step 4:

• Make it a point to click on that list a few times a week. See what those key people are doing, comment and like updates or photos, but make sure to be authentic.

Building a relationship on Facebook is similar to in-person. The more you interact, the more of a bond and a relationship you build.

Here are some more quick tips on Facebook strategies:

• What not to include in your Facebook personal profile
• How to use Pinterest to curate content for your Facebook business page
• How to share a photo from Facebook on Twitter

Do you have a quick tip you’d like to share? Leave me a comment below!

Evidence is growing that more borrowers will be approved for a mortgage without increasing risk to lenders through more sophisticated credit risk scoring that uses alternative data, such as unsecured credit and property history in consumer credit report analysis, according to a new report by the CEB TowerGroup.

“Traditional credit data and analytics continue to be relevant, but are not sufficient to satisfy the consumer credit reformation of today,” said the CEB TowerGroup’s senior research director, Craig Focardi. “As a result of the changes in consumer behavior, lenders cannot revert back to their prior mortgage underwriting policies. Too much damage has already been done to the market, consumers, shareholders and investors.”

CEB TowerGroup evaluated data from a joint analysis conducted by CoreLogic and FICO that compares the FICO® Score used by most lenders today with a new score launched in July that evaluates the traditional credit data from national credit data repositories and the unique alternative credit data contained in the recently launched CoreScore^TM credit report. The analysis of 300,000 mortgage applications found that 3,100 more applicants would receive a qualifying credit score of 700 and approximately 70 percent of a sample population saw their credit score improve.

The report included a joint analysis by CoreLogic and FICO that found that report shows that enhancing the process of determining risk with new alternative data and analytics would allow lenders to approve loan applications that might otherwise be denied, or deny problem loans that might otherwise be approved. Both outcomes would help consumers and the market itself,” said Tim Grace, senior vice president of Product Management at CoreLogic.

The report, titled “Enhanced Credit Data and Scoring: Deeper Insight into Mortgage Applicants,” notes that consumers used to pay mortgage debts first, but because of the recent financial crisis some consumers now treat paying other debts, such as credit card bills and car payments, as a higher priority to maintain personal financial liquidity.

Key findings in the CEB TowerGroup report include:

• Alternative credit information can support loan applicants with newly established credit files with good credit, those with minimal information in their traditional credit files but with good alternative credit payment histories, and long-time renters with no serious payment issues.
• More complete loan applicant, property and related information will bring greater transparency and efficiency to the mortgage lending markets and help reduce risk.
• The new FICO/Corelogic score is more accurate than the prior FICO® Score in identifying the riskiest loans improving lenders ability to discern consumer credit risk at origination. For applicants identified as the riskiest 10 percent of the lending population (those most likely to become past due on their mortgage loan), it identified 10 percent more seriously delinquent mortgage loans – loans 90 days or more past due.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• Share/Save

© 2012 RealEstateEconomyWatch.com. Real Estate Economy Watch is published by Reecon Advisors, Inc.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Site Map | Reference Glossary | Credit | About Reecon Advisors
Housing and Mortgage Calculators | Contact Us | Advertise on REEW | Press Releases